I came to the University of Tennessee as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. In that capacity, I worked on non-zygotic embryogenesis of orchardgrass, a forage grass. At the time, most grass species could not be regenerated in tissue culture, but along with colleagues, we perfected the non-zygotic embryogenic system from leaves. I joined the Department of Ornamental Horticulture in 1987 and worked on dogwoods, redbuds, chrysanthemums, and other plant species as well as dogwood pathogens. I worked on these projects until I joined The Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology in 2001. Currently, I am a UTIA Institute Professor and a UTK Chancellor’s Professor working on genomics, population genetics, propagation of endangered plants, diseases of ornamentals, and molecular marker systems for various plants and pathogens. I am also the Associate Director of the Weed Diagnostic Center and the Editor-in-Chief of Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences.